Pakistan, June 25 -- The announcement that China has formally commenced construction of what is being described as the world's largest hydroelectric project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet has sent strategic shockwaves across South Asia. Estimated to cost around $168 billion and expected to dwarf even China's Three Gorges Dam in power generation capacity, the project has raised serious concerns in India regarding water security, environmental risks, and the strategic implications of upstream control.

The development has also exposed an uncomfortable reality for New Delhi: India now finds itself in the same position that Pakistan has occupied for decades as a lower-riparian state dependent upon waters originating beyond its borders....